THE NEW station at Kenilworth on the Coventry to Leamington line opened to passengers on 30 April.
Built on the site of the town’s former station, the line will now see an hourly service on Mondays to Saturdays between Coventry and Leamington Spa operated by West Midlands Railway calling at the new station. This is in addition to the existing CrossCountry service, which will not call at Kenilworth.
The project to build the station has been led by Warwickshire County Council, with funding from the council, the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and £4.9 million from the Department for Transport’s New Stations Fund. The station was originally due to open in December 2016, but the opening was then put back by a year and scheduled for the December 2017 timetable change. This target date was also missed, with a series of further dates in early 2018 announced but not achieved.
Local campaigners have criticised the council’s management of the project, including the delays to the station’s opening and a rise in cost from £11.3 million to £13.6 million.
The station incorporates an on-site retail unit offering tickets and travel advice as well as a community café. Covered cycle parking, a ticket vending machine, a 72-space car park and lifts and a footbridge to provide step-free access also feature.
